Suncorp says it has been able to triple the number of customers who get their motor claims "fast-tracked" following a successful trial of IBM's supercomputer Watson.

The $17.6 billion bancassurer said at its investor strategy day it had begun testing Watson software in its insurance arm as a way of working out who is to blame for accidents.

From June the proportion of customers who were fast-tracked through the "simple claims" process had tripled. On Wednesday Suncorp said the IBM Watson artificial intelligence technology had been integrated into Suncorp's online claims process and would be deployed across the more than 500,000 motor claims it gets each year.

The system is now being used across Suncorp's personal insurance brands including, AAMI, Suncorp, GIO and Bingle.

Suncorp chief executive of insurance Gary Dransfield said claims could now be lodged, excess paid (or waived based on the decision) and repairs booked within five minutes.

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"This technology augments our claim consultants' knowledge and expertise, providing data-driven insights and instilling greater confidence in our liability decisions. It has also helped us speed the process for our customers, while improving their experience at a time that's often very stressful," said Suncorp chief executive of insurance Gary Dransfield.

Suncorp's new system uses IBM Watson's Natural Language Classifier, which analyses customer descriptions of motor vehicle accidents, which the insurer said were often written in colloquialisms and Australian slang, to help it better understand the circumstances of the claim and determine liability.

"If the incident description provided by the customer is limited, or there is a low confidence score from the system in determining liability, the claim is quickly routed to a claim consultant to help make the liability decision," said Suncorp in a statement.

'Continued momentum'

"Our index shows motor new business pricing was up 16 per cent year on year. The index rose 4 per cent over the September quarter, broadly consistent with industry feedback suggesting recent price increases of 4-6 per cent. Importantly, feedback suggests pricing is now over and above inflation," said Morgan Stanley analyst Daniel Toohey in a note.

Suncorp said in a statement it had trained Watson on the complexities associated with determining liability in motor vehicle accidents using nearly 15,000 de-personalised claim scenarios and the resulting liability determination, in line with guidelines from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).

By the end of the trial period, Watson could accurately determine liability for about 90 per cent of cases.

"Previously, depending on the complexity or details around a customer's claim, they could be diverted to a claim consultant for a phone call, who would then use their judgment to make the liability decision," said Mr Dransfield

"By integrating Watson, not only is our claims process streamlined, but we have further improved the consistency of our liability decisions, while establishing a reliable reference point based on a very large history of claims and industry guidelines."